Silver Rose
by VintagePanties
Summary: A story about Shanks' daughter and her adventures as a pirate. Mystery, Adventure, Friendship and Love. R
1. Chapter One

**Silver Rose  
**

Chapter One

Pretty short, I know but this is sort of like an intro.

By the way, this is a rewritten chapter so, to any of you who read the other one erase it from your mind and enjoy. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

**- - - x - - -**

To Suri Rose it all seemed so pointless now. The way she used to hold onto every little promise he made her as if her life depended on it. It was also kind of heart-breaking and embarrassing now that she looks back on it. But that's what life is all about, making mistakes and learning from them. Plus, she's one to believe in fate and that everything happens for a reason.

Despite her beliefs, Suri was very young and naïve way back when- not to mention a bit of a tomboy. Growing up around working men and no mother really didn't help her feminine side or sex appeal much. She was always getting down and dirty with the boys, while other girls her age did their own things like play with their dolls and fuss over their appearance.

She was the type that would rather go outside and play than stay inside and do god-knows-what; the type to wear jean cutoffs and dirty wife beaters rather than frilly shirts and dresses.

Because of her attitude and overall appearance she was considered as 'one of the guys' by her closest five friends, one of them being Shanks. The other four went by the names of Hal, Taka, Zeg and Memo.

Hal and Zeg were twins with two very distinctive personalities. Hal had a very serious, 'don't mess with me' attitude that would scare off just about everyone with a single glare. He was very cold to everyone outside the group of five friends, and would protect every single one of them, even if it means putting his life in danger, without hesitation. To match his cold personality he had a well-built body that grew stronger as they grew up.

Zeg had a goofier, slightly aloof personality. He was very clumsy and was embarrassed quite easily. I guess you could say he was the wimpiest out of all five. He would also defend his friends if necessary but he wasn't nearly as tough as his brother

Taka was the treasurer of the group keeping track of all the money we earn as a group, either doing jobs or…stealing. He is also the smartest but, again, not necessarily the toughest. He is quick to come up with lies that help us get out of sticky situations.

Memo was the troublemaker of the group, always getting busted for doing the weirdest and most dangerous things. He is quick on his feet and skilled with a weapon in his hand, preferably a gun, and is also willing to go through hell and back for his friends. He is pretty quiet tending to stay in the back of the group and you'll mostly see him lost in his thoughts, staring off into to space.

Last but not least, Shanks. How do we describe this red haired man in his younger years? We can say he's just like he is today; loud, charismatic, and downright obnoxious. But friendly nonetheless, and cares for his crewmates and friends like no other. We can say he was the unofficial leader of the five friends, not necessarily the strongest but he had his good points. Either way he was the only one willing to step up and lead the group through hard situations. He may not look it but he was a born leader; destined to lead a strong group to fame and fortune.

These people were the ones she grew up with, the one's that taught her various things including how to have fun and ignore what other people might say about them. And a single someone taught her how to love and how to feel loved.

But all good things must come to an end, right? As the time passed they all changed and matured. Going their separate ways and doing their own things. One by one the group disbanded. A couple left the island with their families and jobs, while others fell in love and started a family. The only two left were her and Shanks. It was a good amount of time though, before he left her too.

** - - - x - - -**

Suri sadly wiped her tears, feeling foolish that old memories would make her cry again.

After the first time Shanks left Suri felt heartbroken and terribly alone. He was the only one that didn't come to visit after he left. All her old friends came once and a while to check up on her. It was no secret that she and Shanks loved each other, and it was also no secret that he probably wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

But they were wrong.

A couple years after he left he came back to the island. Suri was very surprised but delighted that he actually came back. During his stay a little voice in the back of her head warned her that he would leave again and she would go right back to that heartbroken state of hers. She knew the voice was right but, she pushed it away as much as she could.

Once again the time came for Shanks to leave but this time he left a little something behind. Nearly a month later Suri discovered that tiny unmistakable bump in her abdominal section and nearly fainted. She knew she was eating more than usual and she was a couple days off on her monthly visit.

Like every normal woman she was nervous and excited. Nervous because, well, who wouldn't be nervous the first time they're pregnant, and excited to be giving birth to Shanks' child.

Although she didn't necessarily plan it out like this in her head, it all came down to the same thing. A beautiful baby girl named Velvet Rose.


	2. Chapter Two

**Silver Rose  
**

Chapter Two

I know it seems like it's moving pretty fast but I just want to get the story really started.  
Thanks for the feedback!

- - - x - - -

"B-but, but, momma it's not fair!" An eight year old Velvet argued with a stomp of her foot.  
"He pushed me first so I had to push him back!" Suri chuckled softly and shook her head.

"No, you didn't Velvet and, you know it. You're better than that, now go over there and apologize," Suri nudged her daughter towards the direction of a young boy sitting on the ground crying, with his hands over his knee. The young girl huffed and trudged over to the boy.

Suri shook her head at her daughter's actions and took a seat back on the bench, watching her daughter run off once more. Velvet was barely eight and she was already showing signs of stubbornness and independence. Well, her father was to blame for that. Velvet had taken those two traits from him.

But, that wasn't the only thing she got from her father. She had her father's pin straight red hair and her mother's deep blue eyes. Even though she resembled her mother more, there was something about her that screamed, "I'm Shanks' daughter!" Maybe it was the cheerful smile or the mischievous glint in their eyes that they both seemed to have.

Aside from her stubbornness and independence, Velvet also was very curious and adventurous. She had a very big imagination and was always ready to try new things and go on adventures, even if it was just parading through the trees near their home.

Once again, Velvet earned those traits from her father and something told Suri that those traits would be causing some problems very soon.

- - - x - - -

The rest of the day Suri kept a close eye on her daughter, making sure she wasn't going to push anyone else around. Around the time the sun started to set got up off the bench and stretched, calling for her daughter.

"Velvet!" She called out.

No answer.

"Velvet, it's time to go home!"

Still no answer; Suri crinkled her eyebrows in confusion and walked towards the swings, the place she last saw her daughter. She checked all around them, and even checked under and around the bench she was sitting on.

After checking the rest of the park Suri began to panic. The park was pretty small, consisting of a couple benches, a few trees here and there, and two swings. But the place had a lot of places a small eight year old can fit in.

"Velvet, come out, _now! _We have to go home it's going to get dark so—" Suri passed by some trees and heard, what sounded like a giggle. She mentally sighed in relief and a small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

In a lighter and playful tone she called out, "Velvet~ I'm leaving now. If you won't come out I guess you'll have to stay here and sleep with the bears!"

She stomped her feet, pretending to be walking away, and out came her daughter, bursting with laughter, from behind the bushes.

"Here I am Mama!" Suri chuckled, and grabbed her daughter's hand; walking toward the park's gates.

By now it was pretty dark outside, and the moon was shining brightly in the sky.

"I fooled you mama!" Velvet smiled up at her mother and Suri nodded.

"You sure did,"

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! You'll never guess what I saw in the park…" And Velvet rambled off the rest of the way home, excited to tell her mom what she saw. Nearly half way home Velvet was so into her story she didn't notice the stranger near her, and bumped into them. She hastily muttered an apology wanting to get back to her story, but the stranger didn't say anything. They just stopped and looked back at the two of them.

"…red…hair," The stranger whispered.

Suri stopped in her tracks, and tackled Velvet to the ground. In the split second that Suri had paused the stranger had pulled out some needles and thrown them at Velvet, but narrowly missed as her mother pulled her out of the way.

"Velvet, stay behind me!" Velvet nervously nodded, and got behind her mother. Suri felt her daughter clutch the back of her shirt, and looked at the stranger before them.

"Who are you?" She stared at him coldly. The stranger just smirked and shook his head.

"Doesn't matter right now, sweet cheeks, all that matter is you," He pointed another needle at Suri then at Velvet. "handing that little daughter of yours over to us,"

_Us? There are more of them? _Just as that thought popped into Suri's mind, three more men appeared seemingly out of thin air. Behind her Velvet whimpered, and grabbed hold of her mother's shirt tighter.

The first stranger took a step toward them, and Suri took a step back but remembered the others surrounding her and froze.

_Damn, damn, damn… I knew this would happen one day! _Suri figured one day someone would want to get hold of Shanks' daughter and/or lover. He _was _a great pirate, with not many weaknesses. His greatest weakness was probably either Suri or Velvet. Most likely Suri, he didn't even know Velvet exists.

Everyone knows where Shanks' grew up and he's probably told a couple people about Suri, so when you put two and two together they figured Suri might be useful to them or if they're lucky, they might find someone like Velvet.

Suri started to panic. _What do I do? What do I do? _And then, that's when it hit her. It pained her deeply to do this but there was no choice. She turned around, placed her hands on Velvet's cheeks, softly whispering.

"Velvet, my love, I love you so much. Please don't ever forget that or me. Grow up to be a strong willed woman and someone I'd be proud of. Do what your heart tells you and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I wish we had more time but this is where we part ways…" She quickly hugged her confused, and slightly frightened, daughter and told her her plan.

The men surrounding the two women exchanged looks when Suri dropped down to quickly tell her daughter her plan.

Suddenly, Suri jumped up and charged at one of the men blocking the way to their home. When she had him on the ground with her hands around her neck she looked up at her daughter, frozen with fear, and screamed. "Go now, Velvet!"

Her daughter hesitated for a moment before running off in a sprint for their home. Suri softened her grip on the man's neck, and watched her daughter run away. In the split second she weakened her grip the man reached up, knocked her on the side of the head, sending her flying off him.

The man, furious now, got up and shrugged off the dirt. S otalkingver to where Suri lay, he kicked her in the gut, and growled at her."You think your daughter's gonna make it? HUH? Well, I got news for ya' bitch. She won't. When we get hold of her she's dead!"

Suri glared at the man, and just spit on his shoes, watching his face turn a darker shade of red.

"Rrrrrgghhh!" The stranger pulled his gun out, and aimed it at Suri forehead.

- - - x - - - 

Velvet felt the hot tears cascade down her face as she sprinted home.

She barely knew what was going on, and yet she felt like this was all her fault. Something that one of the men said kept bugging her. _What does he want with me? I've never even seen him before in my life!_

Somewhere from behind her Velvet heard the sound of a gunshot. Her heart jumped for a second, and suddenly she felt very cold.She looked over her shoulder, and shook her head; quickly wiping her tears, and pumping her legs faster. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst but she couldn't stop now, she was almost home.

_Don't worry Mama; I'll come back for you._


	3. Chapter Three

**Silver Rose**  
Chapter 3

**- - - x - - -**

_Now that you left me mama, am I all alone?_

_My cousins, aunts, and uncles don't know anything, should I tell them the truth?_

_I don't want them to suffer like me._

_Where are you mama?_

_Are you waiting for me to come find you?_

_I call for you but you don't answer._

_Are you mad that I left you behind?_

_You told me to run so I did._

_I ran far, far away._

_From those bad men,_

_From my fears,_

_From you._

"Hey, look!" On a bright and sunny morning many people were bustling around the village's outdoor market. Some big holiday was coming up soon, and the villagers were hurrying to buy all the last minute supplies. On a long wooden bench near a local vendor's cart sat a familiar red headed girl. She was hugging her knees with her head dipped low. You couldn't see her face but her long red hair could be spotted miles away, and a young passerby had done just that. Urgently tugging on his mother's sleeve he pointed at the little girl. "Mama, isn't that the girl who's mo—" He started but was cut off by his mother.

"Hush, Will! You are not allowed to talk about that!" The mother smacked the boy's hand, and pulled him along.

Even though it had been nearly a year since the incident involving Velvet and her mother some villagers still talked about it. Although they felt bad about it they were a little suspicious on what exactly happened to them that night that left little Velvet shaking on the Mayor's doorsteps. Velvet barely speaks about the incident, and the most they got out of her was "…big scary men," and "mama in pain, please help her" The look she gave them while spilling those few words was enough to strike something in everyone's heart. Her eyes, which displayed fear and pain, were wide as saucers, and her face was completely pale. After trying a few more times to get her to spill, but failing, everyone decided to drop it. Velvet would tell them when she was ready, and now was not the time.

"Velvet, c'mere!" Velvet recognized the voice of her grandfather and hopped off the bench, wandering over to the merchant cart. Ever since her mother died Velvet had been staying with her grandfather. It was a lot of fun but rather lonely at times. Her grandfather was a merchant; his job is to sail off on his boat every once and a while to go to the neighboring islands to collect and trade herbs, fish, vegetables, and other goods. He would also pick up some tips and cultures from the other islands and teach them to her. He once went to an island southeast from theirs and the people there taught her grandfather some healing tips. They taught him how to identify poisonous and nonpoisonous fruits, plants, and animals; how to heal shallow wounds; how to cure some illnesses and many other things in turn for food or rare goods. Once he learned all these things he would pass it down to Velvet who was always eager to learn. Despite her age Velvet knew a lot already. "Velvet I'm going to need you to guard the cart for a moment, don't let anyone steal anything and don't give anything away!" With that her grandfather rushed off to the nearest bathroom with his hands clutching his pants.

Velvet stood there on her grandfather's stool patiently, whistling some random tune to herself when a group of boys each around her age, maybe a little older approached the cart.

"Hey shorty!" One of them said.

"Nice cart you got here," Another smirked at her.

"Is it yours?" Velvet nodded briefly, still not saying a word.

"Givin' us the silent treatment, eh?"

"Alright listen brat, we won't hurt you we just want some things for free, got it?" The one in the middle stated, it seemed he was the unannounced leader within the group. Velvet glared down at the boy, and shook her head once. One of the other two boys scoffed, she didn't know which one it was, she was too busy glaring at the one in the middle.

"Fine, I'll guess we'll have to go the hard way, grab her!" All three boys jumped at the same time. One lunged at Velvet's throat while the other two at the cart. The one who lunged for her throat got her foot in his face but managed to knock her off the stool she was standing on. The boy was fazed for only a moment before he quickly got to his feet, and tackled the smaller girl to the ground, getting her in a headlock in a second. Velvet's eyes widen and she reached behind her, flailing her arms in every possible direction, hoping to hit the boy.

"Heh, not so tough now eh?" The boy spat behind her. Velvet frowned, and bent her lower leg back letting her ankle collide with the boy's sensitive place. He instantly let her go, and she dropped to the floor gasping for breath.

"Kakaru, let's go! We've got everything!" The two others shouted at the boy lying next to her. He stumbled to his feet, and took off after his friends.

"Stop!" Velvet cried out hoarsely. But, just before the three thieves could turn the corner Velvet's grandfather took one hard swing, and got each right across the head. It was no doubt they saw stars before passing out.

"Velvet, you ok?" Her uncle called out to her. She nodded quickly, smiling at him.

On the way home that afternoon Velvet's grandfather asked her for the umpteenth time if she was ok. She giggled, and shook her head once more.

"I still can't believe you managed to stand up to those boys, tussle with one, and make it out unscathed." He looked at her in mock bewilderment. She giggled again, and bumped his arm with her shoulder.

"Maybe, I can… nah too dangerous," Her grandfather shook his head at his own thought.

"What is it?" Velvet asked.

"No, nothing. It's much too dangerous at your age,"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, te—" Velvet was now jumping up and down on her toes.

"Fine, fine, perhaps it's time to teach you how to fight," He paused for a moment. "Maybe even how to use a sword, we don't want what happened today to happen again, do we?" Velvet gasped and stared at her grandfather with wide eyes. She had seen all the males in her family practicing at the dojo on their island various times. She would always follow them, dreaming when it would be her time to learn how to master a sword.

"Eeep! When can we start? How 'bout now! Yeah, let's do it right now!" She dropped the bags she was carrying, and skipped around her grandfather with joy.

Her grandfather chuckled softly, shaking his head at the young girl. "Not now little one, maybe later. I'm very tired, and it is getting late but I promise you I'll teach you how to use a sword soon," 

**- - - x - - -**

****"Keep your shoulders straight! Don't jut your chin out so far. Whoa, watch that sword!" Velvet's grandfather had kept his promise. After that day, he had started teaching Velvet how to use a sword, and always kept her in good shape. He never went too easy on her because she was his niece or even because she was a girl, which Velvet liked. She trained early in the morning until late at night some days. But it was all worth it because she knew one day all that training would be off. What she didn't know was that day was sooner than she thought.

Velvet was currently in one of her training sessions but was once again lost in thought, which she happened to do a lot – it was one of her weaknesses, and her grandfather managed to narrowly miss her side with his sword. Velvet snapped out of her thoughts, and returned the attack with one of her own. "Daydreaming again?" Her grandfather furrowed his eyebrows, and Velvet just shrugged.

They continued going back and forth until the sun started to set, and finally they decided it was time for a break. They set up a large picnic basket near the edge of their training field which happened to overlook the sea, and sat down, digging into their meat sandwiches quickly. Placing the crust back on her plate Velvet burped loudly, and sighed contently. It's not that she didn't have any manners it's just that she felt a bit more comfortable around her grandfather, and with the sea just below her feet. Velvet had loved the sea ever since she was little when her mom used to take her to similar places around the island overlooking the sea. She used to tell her that the sea was a place full of adventures just waiting to be gone on, and somewhere out there were two men out there that would both play a major part in her life later on. One of them would love her, and the other would be in love with her. The latter would only happen if she played her cards right though.

Velvet's mother would also tell her about a red headed man much like her. Who loved adventure, happiness, and the joy in others. He was a bit of a fool at times but good-natured and friendly nonetheless. Her mother told her he had beautiful straight red hair just like hers. Not wild, and curly like her mother's. He could bring out the best in others, and could make you believe in him like no other in a blink of an eye. His name is Shanks.

"Don't forget that name, alright?" Her mother had told her with a proud look in her eye.

Snapping out of her memories, Velvet looked out onto the water and a small smile threatened to form on her lips.

"Hey grandpa…"

"Yes, child?"

"I'm going to become a pirate someday," She stated, still looking out at the sea now with a huge smile on her face. She could already imagine her crew of close friends that she would make exploring the world, and all the gold and treasure they would acquire.

That statement threw her grandfather through a loop. He stared at her as if she had three heads.

"W-what are you talking about?" He asked bewildered.

"I'm going to become a pirate one day. I'll join a crew, and explore the seven seas. Ya' know, pirate stuff." She stated as a-matter-of-factly.

Velvet heard he grandfather sigh, and looked at him. He knew her attraction towards adventure, and the ocean seemed familiar. Her father was the same way when he was younger. Yes, he knew that this child was Shanks', he probably wasn't the only one. The resemblance in personality and hair was unmistakable.

"I figured you would say that one day, little one."

**Well now is when the real plot starts! Woo, I'm getting excited!  
Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter, the next one will feature some very very verrry important people.  
I am currently looking for beta readers, so if any of you are interested please email me!******

**Much Love,  
VP**


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